Ways To Prevent Breast Cancer, How To Treat Breast Cancer

There are different types of treatment of patients with breast cancer.

Different types of treatment are available for patients with breast cancer. Some treatments are standard (the currently used treatment), and some are being tested in clinical trials. A treatment clinical trial is a research study aims to contribute to current treatments or obtain information on new treatments for patients with cancer. In clinical studies show that a new treatment is better than the standard treatment, the new treatment of the standard treatment can be. Patients may want to think about taking part in a clinical trial. Some clinical trials are only to patients not start treatment have opened.

Six types of standard treatment used: Surgery

Most patients with breast cancer surgery to remove the tumor from the breast. Some of the lymph nodes under the arm are usually taken under the microscope and looked to see if they contain cancer cells.

Breast-conserving surgery, surgery to remove the tumor, but not the breast itself, includes the following:

Lumpectomy: surgery to remove a tumor (chunk) and a small amount of normal tissue surrounding it. Partial amputation: surgery to remove part of the breast cancer and some normal tissue around it. The lining in the chest muscles below the cancer can be removed. This method is also called a segmental mastectomy.

Patients who are treated with breast-conserving surgery, possibly some of the lymph nodes under the arm removed for biopsy. This process is called lymph node dissection. It can be done at the same time as the breast-conserving surgery or after. Lymph node dissection is performed by a separate incision.

Other types of operations are the following:

Total mastectomy: surgery to remove the entire breast, the cancer has. This method is also called a simple mastectomy. Some of the lymph nodes under the arm can be removed for biopsy at the same time as the breast surgery or after. This is done through a separate incision.

Modified radical mastectomy: Surgery to remove the entire breast, cancer, many of the lymph nodes under the arm, the lining over the chest muscles, and sometimes a part of the chest wall muscle.

Chemotherapy may be given prior to surgery to remove the tumor. If given chemotherapy prior to surgery to shrink the tumor and reduce the amount of tissue that must be removed during surgery. Treatment is given before surgery as neoadjuvant therapy.

Even if the doctor removes any cancer that is to be seen at the time of the operation, some patients may be given radiation therapy, chemotherapy or hormonal therapy after surgery no cancer cells to kill the left. Given the treatment after surgery to reduce the risk that the cancer will come back, is called adjuvant therapy.

If a patient is a mastectomy, breast reconstruction (surgery to form a breast after a mastectomy rebuild) must be considered. Breast reconstruction can be performed at the time of mastectomy or at a later time. The reconstructed breast may be the patient’s tissue or by using implants with saline or silicone gel filled with their own (nonbreast). Before the decision is made to get an implant, patients can the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Devices and Radiological Health at 1-888-INFO-FDA (1-888-463-6332) or visit the FDA Web site for more information on breast implants. Follow sentinel lymph node biopsy by surgery

Sentinel lymph node biopsy is the removal of the sentinel lymph node during surgery. The sentinel lymph node, the first lymph nodes lymphatic drainage from a tumor is obtained. It is the first lymph node the cancer is likely to spread to the tumor. A radioactive substance and / or blue dye is injected into the tumor. The substance or dye flows through the lymph vessels to the lymph nodes. The first lymph node to receive the substance or dye is removed. A pathologist sees the tissue under a microscope to look for cancer cells. If cancer cells are not found, it may not be necessary to remove more lymph nodes. After the sentinel lymph node biopsy, the surgeon removes the tumor (breast-conserving surgery or mastectomy).

Radiotherapy

Radiation therapy is a cancer treatment that uses high-energy x-rays or other types of radiation to kill cancer cells or keep them from growing. There are two kinds of radiation therapy. External radiation therapy uses a machine outside the body to send radiation toward the cancer. Internal radiation therapy uses a radioactive substance in needles, seeds, wires, or catheters that are placed directly into or near the cancer sealed. The way the radiation therapy is given depends on the type and stage of cancer being treated. Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer, the drugs used to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by dividing it prevents. When chemotherapy taken by mouth or injected into a vein or muscle, the drugs reach the bloodstream and can cancer cells throughout the body (systemic chemotherapy). When chemotherapy is placed directly into the cerebrospinal fluid, an organ, or a body cavity such as the abdomen, the drugs mainly affect cancer cells in those areas (regional chemotherapy). The manner will be given of chemotherapy depends on the type and stage of cancer being treated.

Hormone therapy is a cancer treatment that hormones or blocks their action and stops away growth of cancer cells. Hormones are substances produced by glands in the body and circulated in the bloodstream that. Some hormones can cause certain cancers to grow. If tests show that the cancer cells have places where hormones attach (receptors), drugs, surgery or radiation therapy is used to reduce the production of hormones or block them from working. The hormone estrogen, which can grow some breast cancers, is mainly from the ovaries. The treatment to the ovaries from producing estrogen will stop as ovarian ablation.

Hormone therapy with tamoxifen is given frequently in patients with early stage breast cancer and patients with metastatic breast cancer (cancer that has spread to other parts of the body). Hormone therapy with tamoxifen or estrogens can act on cells throughout the body and increase the possibility of developing endometrial cancer. Women taking tamoxifen should be an annual pelvic exam to look for signs of cancer. Any vaginal bleeding, other than menstrual bleeding should notify as soon as possible to a doctor.

Hormone therapy with an aromatase inhibitor in some post-menopausal women having hormone-dependent breast cancer. Hormone-dependent breast cancer needs the hormone estrogen to grow. Aromatase inhibitors decrease the body’s estrogen by blocking an enzyme called aromatase from turning androgen into estrogen.

For the treatment of early stage breast cancer, certain aromatase more years of tamoxifen used as adjuvant therapy instead of tamoxifen or after 2 or. For the treatment of metastatic breast cancer aromatase inhibitors are being tested in clinical trials to compare them to hormone therapy with tamoxifen.

Targeted therapy

Targeted therapy is a type of treatment to identify and attack specific cancer cells without harming normal cells used the drugs or other substances. Monoclonal antibodies and tyrosine kinase inhibitors are used two types of targeted therapies in the treatment of breast cancer. PARP inhibitors have been studied a type of targeted therapy for the treatment of triple negative breast cancer.

Monoclonal antibody therapy is a cancer treatment that uses antibodies in the laboratory, a single type of immune system cell. These antibodies may substances on cancer cells or normal substances that help could grow cancer cells. The antibodies to the substances and kill the cancer cells, block the growth, or keep them spread. Monoclonal antibodies are produced by infusion. They can be used alone or to carry drugs, toxins, or radioactive material directly to cancer cells. Monoclonal antibodies can be used in combination with chemotherapy as adjuvant therapy.

Trastuzumab is a monoclonal antibody, which sends the effect of the growth factor HER2 protein, the growth signals to breast cancer cells. About a quarter of patients with breast cancer have tumors that can be treated in combination with chemotherapy with trastuzumab.

Pertuzumab is a monoclonal antibody that can be used to treat breast cancer in combination with trastuzumab and chemotherapy. It can be used with HER2-positive breast cancer who treat certain patients (spread to other parts of the body) metastases. It can also be used as neoadjuvant therapy in selected patients with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer.

Ado-trastuzumab emtansine is a monoclonal antibody against an anticancer medicine connected. This is called an antibody-drug conjugate. It is used to treat HER2-positive breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body or has come back is (come back) to deal with.

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors are targeted therapy drugs that block signals needed for tumor growth. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors may be used with other anticancer drugs as adjuvant therapy.

Lapatinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, the effects of the HER2 protein and other proteins within tumor cells. It can be treated with other medications for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer that progressed after treatment with trastuzumab.

PARP inhibitors are a type of targeted therapy to block the DNA repair and can cause cancer cells to die. PARP inhibitor therapy is being studied for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer.

New types of treatment are being tested in clinical trials.

This summary section describes treatments that are being studied in clinical trials. It may not mention every new treatment studied. Information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site. High-dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplantation

High-dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplantation is a way to give high doses of chemotherapy and replacing blood -forming cells destroyed by the cancer treatment. Stem cells (immature blood cells) are removed from the blood or bone marrow of the patient or a donor and frozen and stored. After chemotherapy is finished, the stored stem cells are thawed and, by infusion back into the patient. These reinfused stem cells grow into (and restore) the body’s blood cells.

Studies have shown that high-dose chemotherapy followed by stem cell transplantation shown not to work better than standard chemotherapy in the treatment of breast cancer. Doctors have decided that, for now, high-dose chemotherapy should only be tested in clinical trials. Before participating in such a study, women should talk to their doctors about the serious side effects, including death, that may be caused by high-dose chemotherapy. Patients may want to think about taking part in a clinical trial.

For some patients, taking part in a clinical trial may be the best treatment choice. Clinical trials are part of the process of cancer research. Clinical studies are performed to find out whether new cancer treatments are safe and effective or better than the standard treatment.

Many of today’s standard treatments for cancer are based on earlier clinical trials. Patients participating in a clinical trial may receive the standard treatment or be among the first to receive a new treatment.

Patients who take part in clinical trials also help to be treated in the future the way of cancer. Even when clinical trials do not lead to effective new treatments, they often answer important questions and help on the way research forward. Patients can enter clinical trials during, or after starting their cancer treatment.

Some clinical trials are only patients who have not yet received treatment. Other studies test treatments for patients whose cancer has not become better. There are also studies new ways to stop cancer from recurring (back) or reduce the side effects to test cancer treatment.

Clinical trials are held in many parts of the country. See the Treatment Options section for links to current treatment clinical trials follows. These have been retrieved from NCI listing of clinical trials. Follow-up tests are needed.

Some of the tests, which were carried out in order to diagnose cancer or to learn the stage of the cancer can be repeated. Some tests to see how well the treatment is working are repeated. Decisions about whether to continue, change, or stop treatment may be based on the results of these tests. This is sometimes called re-staging.

Some of the tests will continue to be performed from time to time after the treatment is completed. The results of these tests show if your condition has changed or if the cancer has come back (again). These tests are sometimes called follow-up tests or check-ups.